Oregon Trail - Developing A Classic

Via Press the Buttons, an interview on the site Deadly Hippos with Philip Bouchard, designer for the original "Oregon Trail". The classic game of food, hunting, and cholera was a staple for many folks around my age growing up, and the piece makes for interesting reading. From the article: "Unfortunately, in real life it was all too easy to kill a buffalo with a rifle. In later decades hunters would kill vast numbers of buffalos and take only the tongues. So I wanted kids to feel a sense of shame for killing too much and then wasting the kill. That was one of the reasons for allowing the player to carry back no more than 200 pounds of meat. I wanted the kids to develop a sense of conservation while playing the game - to say "We should not shoot more meat than we can carry". Our field testing showed that this lesson was indeed effective."

Comments

Oh, is that what I was supposed to learn?

[oni]

I wanted the kids to develop a sense of conservation while playing the game - to say "We should not shoot more meat than we can carry". Our field testing showed that this lesson was indeed effective.

uh, I think the feild testing was in error. Because I killed the heck out those animals and never felt the slightest guilt about it. Hunting kicked ass. I don't think I ever even made it to Oregon. My purpose was just to spend all my money on bullets and go hunting.

Maybe the wrong effect?

[ValuJet]

"We should not shoot more meat than we can carry". Our field testing showed that this lesson was indeed effective."

Since they couldn't carry so much meat it probably taught the kids to eat everything they could while they could. Now our nation is wracked with startling rates of fatties.

Thanks for making our nation fat Oregon Trail!